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AEW 5/8 - 5/14/2024 - I've Got My Spine, I've Got My Orange Crush


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Great bloody main event and chaotic closing segment.  Weird promo setup for Serena to give that emotional promo with her back mostly to the audience but enjoyed the actual material.

Good stuff in the Swerve/Christian promo battle. Saw the Mogul Embassy turn coming of course, but for a moment was intrigued by them having a try at a face run. 

Jericho promo ruled, popped for his shoutout to his match having the highest Cagematch rating on last week's Dynamite. 

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13 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Wonder who Bryan Danielson gets on AEW Collison, his first match back after his epic vs. Will Ospreay at AEW Dynasty.

Hopefully AEW is calling Daniel Makabe today.

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1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

Great bloody main event and chaotic closing segment.  Weird promo setup for Serena to give that emotional promo with her back mostly to the audience but enjoyed the actual material.

This has been the thing for a few weeks now and I think it's time to end the experiment.

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3 hours ago, Sex Machine Gun said:

This has been the thing for a few weeks now and I think it's time to end the experiment.

I might be in the minority, but I actually really like the shot itself - it reminds me a bit of the early shows when they would shoot the announcers' desk similarly. I just wish their attempts to keep the hard cam out of frame weren't so obvious/distracting. It felt like by the end of the talking portion, the camera person had rotated to the point where they were almost fully behind Toni

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10 hours ago, The Natural said:

Bryan Danielson is the only wrestler to be in all three Anarchy in the Arena matches. Eddie Kingston and The Young Bucks are on two. This will be Kazuchika Okada, FTR and Jack Perry first.

Be interesting to see how Kazuchika Okada gets on as he's never been in a gimmick match like Anarchy in the Arena.

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10 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Be interesting to see how Kazuchika Okada gets on as he's never been in a gimmick match like Anarchy in the Arena.

That's a real good point. Shibata was awesome against Jericho the other week in a similar first-time situation - tough act to follow for sure, but then again: it's f'n Okada

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Speaking of interesting or different ways they're shooting stuff now, I really like the way they specifically shoot Pac walking out -- the cameraman is behind the grate and Pac staring at him as he comes out.

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3 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

Speaking of interesting or different ways they're shooting stuff now, I really like the way they specifically shoot Pac walking out -- the cameraman is behind the grate and Pac staring at him as he comes out.

Agreed, that was really, really cool - good catch.

Even if stuff like this doesn't always necessarily work for everybody (like how @Sex Machine Gundidnt dig the crowd shot, or how personally, I could do without the return of overhead shots during matches) it's at least nice to see some experimentation to balance out some of the safer, more WWE-esque visual polish they've recently deployed.

Tangent: I can't take dry-hair PAC seriously - he looked like a yolked up Geezer Butler soliciting donations for a cat charity

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I really dug the opening match as Orange and Trent constantly one-upping each other in finding new ways to land awkwardly on their shoulders on the concrete.  Orange is really great at these crowd brawls because he will actually go into the crowd and brawl on somebody's lap instead of keeping it in the aisle.  Between this and the parking lot brawl Trent has had a really king-sized couple of weeks, but I worry about his future as a solo wrestler.  

Deeb is a bad promo and badly miscast as a face, but Toni saved the day throwing dollar bills at her and selling the punch like it was a .45.

Harley Cameron is pretty good!  Mariah May is pretty good!  Saraya is great talking shit at ringside with her tiddies half out!  

Does Pac own any clothes besides his ring gear?

Brody King is a national treasure and Edge did his part by wearing white gear.

 

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31 minutes ago, Zimbra said:

Deeb is a bad promo and badly miscast as a face, but Toni saved the day throwing dollar bills at her and selling the punch like it was a .45.

Thanks for bringing this up, I was planning on it today:

I'm not saying you're wrong at all when it comes to this segment (on the contrary - I agree Deeb unfortunately kinda stunk here) but what pisses me off is this:

She cut nearly word-for-word the exact same promo on Collision maybe a month or so ago, and it was (not kidding at all) AWESOME. The crowd, though smaller than last night's, was way, way into it and you could almost visually see her confidence grow with each line - she was kinda nodding along with each pause like, "Yeah, I'm grabbing 'em..." - I even posted here after something like, 'Wow, who knew she could talk like this?'

So you had this really nice, really natural sounding promo from her, with an awesome baby reaction from the crowd, and she tells this beautiful underdog story about the IRL health stuff - just really checked all the boxes - but it aired in the f'n Hardcore TV wee hours after hoops, so no one saw it!

So yeah, nothing to do with your actual criticism, but as a huge Deeb fan it just really annoys the shit out of me that the more widely-seen promo was the (much) worse of the two.

But hey, its not all bad: as you mentioned, the physicality was awesome in this one, Toni really saved the day with that sell.

I also really like the whole thing with Deeb refusing to touch or pose with the physical belt - kind of a nice touch (especially for any hockey fans sticking around to tune in - I know they've got a similar superstition-type thing around the Stanley Cup)

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Let me clarify one thing… if they split Toni and Mariah, it might be a little too complex since there’s probably enough people out there who want to cheer Toni. And heel Mariah/face Toni probably doesn’t work better than just keeping Toni and Mariah together as faces, at least for a little bit.

Maybe Deeb is miscast as a face. But Toni being a heel vs Deeb might make that stick out more.

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49 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

Let me clarify one thing… if they split Toni and Mariah, it might be a little too complex since there’s probably enough people out there who want to cheer Toni. And heel Mariah/face Toni probably doesn’t work better than just keeping Toni and Mariah together as faces, at least for a little bit.

Maybe Deeb is miscast as a face. But Toni being a heel vs Deeb might make that stick out more.

That last point is a good one, I agree it probably doesn't help matters.

Re: your first paragraph - I know it's not huge in the grand scheme of things, but whichever direction is chosen, I really hope we don't move on from Toni/Mariah without an explanation on the Single White Female deal with Mariah coming out in Toni's old gear to "Not Barracuda" - I thought maybe it would be revealed to be Mina's idea after she debuted, but we havent touched that thus far (unless I've missed it)

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the case for keeping Toni/Mariah together is sorta why MJF/Cole sticking together worked, because AEW did so many turns that when you had an obvious turn not turn into a turn instantly, it was refreshing

of course they eventually turned Cole on MJF, and that's just gonna be on ice until both of them heal up in 2030

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2 hours ago, Zimbra said:

Orange is really great at these crowd brawls because he will actually go into the crowd and brawl on somebody's lap instead of keeping it in the aisle.

 

 

Orange stood on the lower bowl seats and balanced himself by planting his palm on top of a woman's head!  That and him doubling back to grab some popcorn from a fan were awesome spots.

Dry hair Pac just chilling in the back halls looking like an Onryo.

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

I might be in the minority, but I actually really like the shot itself - it reminds me a bit of the early shows when they would shoot the announcers' desk similarly. I just wish their attempts to keep the hard cam out of frame weren't so obvious/distracting. It felt like by the end of the talking portion, the camera person had rotated to the point where they were almost fully behind Toni

I like the idea. Tthey need to better consider the staging for amongst others the reason you mentioned. The shot feels a little crowded. The Mansury crew oughtta study the tapes... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lrZksd7mZg

4 hours ago, Zimbra said:

Deeb is a bad promo and badly miscast as a face, but Toni saved the day throwing dollar bills at her and selling the punch like it was a .45.

Harley Cameron is pretty good!  Mariah May is pretty good!  Saraya is great talking shit at ringside

Wholeheartedly agree. Curious to know how Harley Cameron prepared for this match. She doesn't have many reported match reps to speak of. Maybe AEW is still taping empty arena (really) Dark shows? Harley's character work has been (as the C/B show viewers might tell you) wonderfully funny. I'm a fan and hoping she can parlay this strong Dynamite debut into some kind of run (ROH). If not, I'll still be here championing the idea of her managing a credible and worthy top star.

What is this sick fascination with positioning Toni Storm as a heel? Is this some kind of reverse John Cena shit? Deeb like Purrazzo feels so much more fun and natural as a heel.   

Edited by HarryArchieGus
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It feels like we're in a holding position where they're giving the Mariah/Toni storyline some time to develop and desperately trying to keep Toni heel until Mariah turns on her. All of her most recent challengers, Purazzo, Rosa and now Deeb got booed even though none of them performed with heelish tendencies (until they ran with it for Deonna). Shame for Deeb she never seems to be in the right place at the right time to be champion when her in-ring talent has always shined. 

Also strange they're currently presenting Mariah as more of a face against the Outcasts.

I am excited for the future storylines though and with hopefully Hayter and DMD returning before Wembley we could get something special there. God I miss Hayter she would mix so well with all the new girls.

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Serena Deeb reminds me of Brad Armstrong or Dean Malenko -- someone who comes off on TV as dull as dishwater, but is the complete opposite behind the scenes. Her RJ City interview was surprisingly good -- never saw this side from her before (funny, "giggly," a tad on the goofy side) -- yet she can't seem to tap that personality on TV. And her recent fashion makeover (now dressing for interviews like she's ready to go to a night club or the opera instead of just getting out of yoga class) suggests AEW wants to present her as an elite part of the women's division.

I definitely understand why they are keeping Toni heel for now -- wait until Hayter, Britt and the like return but, unless it's in the opponent's hometown, I can't see anyone booing Toni at this point in the game. 

 

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2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

They can't turn everybody, so that Stat turn hopefully is gonna have to wait. 

Hopefully a turn that can be put on hold for years. 

I down with keeping the Toni Storm/Mariah May act together as long as possible so they can keep a  turn on hold for as long as possible. If they ever decide that a Woman's Tag Team title is going to be a thing, you can't go wrong with them as the inaugural champs even as a face duo. 

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